SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany, June 26 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday welcomes leaders of the Group of Seven Rich Democracies to a three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and its aftermath powerful, from energy shortages to a food crisis.
The summit takes place in a darker setting than last year, when British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese and American leaders met for the first time since before the COVID pandemic. 19 and promised to rebuild better.
Rising world prices for energy and food are affecting economic growth following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The United Nations warned on Friday of an “unprecedented global hunger crisis.” Read more
Climate change, an increasingly assertive China and the rise of authoritarianism are also on the agenda.
G7 leaders are expected to try to show a united front to support Ukraine for as long as necessary and increase pressure on the Kremlin, although they will want to avoid sanctions that could fuel inflation and aggravate the cost crisis. the life that affects them. the people themselves.
“The main message of the G7 will be unity and coordination of action … This is the main message, that even in difficult times … we adhere to our alliance,” said an EU official .
G7 partners will agree to ban gold imports from Russia, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. A German government source later said leaders were holding “really constructive” talks on a possible price cap on Russian oil imports. Read more
G7 leaders are also expected to discuss options to deal with rising energy prices and replace Russian oil and gas imports.
The summit takes place at the station of Schloss Elmau Castle, at the foot of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, the same place as when the country hosted the last annual G7 meeting in 2015. Then too, Russian aggression against Ukraine dominated the agenda. a year after the invasion of Crimea by Moscow.
U.S. President Joe Biden is received by Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder at Munich’s Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport ahead of the G7 summit, which will take place at the Bavarian Alpine Station. Elmau Castle, Germany, June 25, 2022. REUTERS / Michaela Rehle
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The summit is also an opportunity for Scholz to take advantage of being the host by showing more assertive leadership on the Ukraine crisis.
The chancellor promised a revolution in German foreign and defense policy after the invasion of Russia in February, promising to strengthen the army with a fund of 100 billion euros and send weapons to Ukraine.
But since then, critics have accused him of dragging his feet and sending contradictory messages warning that Russia could perceive NATO as part of the war and highlighting the risk of a nuclear war.
The G7 was founded in 1975 as a forum for richer nations to discuss crises such as the OPEC oil embargo.
It became the G8 after Russia was admitted six years after the fall of the Soviet Union. But Moscow was suspended in 2014 after Crimea was annexed to Ukraine.
GLOBAL PARTNERS
This year, Scholz has invited as partner countries Senegal, which currently chairs the African Union, Argentina, currently at the head of the Commonwealth of Latin American and Caribbean States, as well as Indonesia and India, the current and upcoming hosts. of the G20 group of large industrial nations. , as well as South Africa.
“The summit must send not only the message that NATO and the G7 are more united than ever, but also that the world’s democracies are together against Putin’s imperialism as they do in the fight against hunger and poverty, ”Scholz told the German. parliament this week.
Many countries in the global south are concerned about the collateral damage of Western sanctions.
An EU official said G7 countries would impress partner countries that the peaks in food prices that affected them were the result of Russia’s actions and that there were no food-targeted sanctions. It was also a mistake to think of the Ukrainian war as a local issue.
“It’s more than that. It’s questioning order, order after World War II,” the official said.
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Report by Sarah Marsh Additional report by Philip Blenkinsop Edited by Peter Graff
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